Hi all

Just wanting other breeders thoughts on my question

I have a litter of utility breed puppies a very popular but not cheap to purchase breed, they are currently 6 weeks old and have had no interest in them at all.

I have priced them accordingly with other puppies of a he same breed. My pups are quality health tested etc... But I also see pups available that are priced way below what they should be, I don't want to lower them as I may attract the wrong buyers!!

Then I thought is it because of the uncertainty of the U.K. At the moment that may be putting people getting a puppy

Thanks for reading

They will come. Have you advertised on here and the KC? Are there any breed club websites that hold litters available?

There could be a number of reasons why your puppies aren't getting interest.....

Are all health tests in place?

Does their breeding warrant the price your asking?

Are they priced a lot more than others?

Where are you advertising them?

Maybe it's just not a very popular breed or it's a select type of owner your looking for?

The public are becoming more aware when puppy hunting, and everything has to be spot on and a lot hinges on the wording in your advert.

Also it's holiday season.....it can work for or against having a new puppy.

I can't believe the political state of the country would affect puppy buyers to be honest.

If you are a member of your Breed Club, contact them - many have somebody who keeps lists of puppies available.   You could also go on the Kennel Club's list - something I did the one time until I found I was listed alongside known Puppy Farmers!!   Never again.   Word of mouth usually works, and the owner of the stud dog (if not you!) should help you find good permanent homes for these puppies.

When times are hard (financially) the market for purebred dogs (high cost) can dip but I'd suggest people aren't yet feeling the pinch as the result of leaving the EU.    Breeders usually know how the market is when they plan a litter, and if puppies are 'sticking' delay mating their bitch.    We usually had our puppies into the better weather, so they could spend more time outside.   Holidays might delay a puppy going home (I'd always hold one until after the holiday) but shouldn't mean you have NO enquiries.

I'm surprised you hadn't built up a waiting list before the mating. I start mine a year in advance. Had all my pups booked before the birth, but then as usually happen one person pulled out. I wouldn't dare to mate a bitch without people waiting. Pre-vetted people.

My GOOD puppy enquiries all tend to come from the KC AB scheme, and from my listing here on CD. Plus word of mouth.

Only raised one litter and here is my experience.

My rare breed qualified for a KC free ad, only 1 enquiry resulted in a good home but they knew the stud owner so maybe they would have found me anyway. Lots of overseas enquiries and timewasters, very glad I didn't pay.

The stud owner was excellent both in advice and recommending one person for a good home.

However the best method I found was a breed specific page on Facebook. The majority were sold this way. Excellent homes and  I get lots of pictures of my litter.

What Goldmali says.  I wouldn't have dared mate without knowing we had enough homes. 

If you are struggling to find *any* homes, really good homes are even harder to come by.  Chances are, people who struggle to find homes do end up placing puppies in less than ideal homes, out of desperation. 

We've had about 80+ enquiries for our litter and out of those, I accepted only 7 homes.  6 of these were known at birth and on the list, just one puppy didn't have a home at birth.  This wasn't for lack of enquiries (80+!) but because I rejected those for being unsuitable. 

We don't place pups in homes with kids under the age of 10, there must be an adult available all day, for at least the first 6 months, and we favour working/dog sport/competition/training-orientated homes.  Homes which meet all these criteria are really difficult to find, which is why we only had 7 out of 80!! 

I'd also say that using a really good stud dog has been more than worth the stud fee many times over - I have had about 2-3 excellent homes via referrals from the stud dog owner, who is very well regarded.  This, in itself, is a reason to use a really well qualified and experienced dog rather than your own or one nearby, IMO.

I do know of a breeder who bred his dog (different breed), and could only place 4 out of a large litter of 12.  His landlord found out about him having had a litter and said they had to go at 8wks or he'd be evicted.  So he took them all to the RSPCA. All these pedigree and health-tested puppies went, without papers, to a rescue organisation for homing.  That really made me think hard and ensure I had a good lot of interest before breeding.

Is this your first time breeding this breed? I ask because location can play a massive part in this. For example a friend dogs are health tested yet they often have pups left past 8 weeks old and price wise the breed her in south Wales is alot cheaper then over in England.  Likley because we have all the puppy farms churning out puppies and many pet people just breeding for the run of it or some cash people here don't need to Waite for a pup. I could actualy decide right now I want one and probably bring one home by the end of the day no questions asked. When it's like that it can be hard to build up a waiting list or have the ones your not keeping in homes by 8 weeks. Where as I have a waiting list for mine there just isn't the intrest for their breed here. My friend always keeps hold of the pups untill suitable homes come along.

You say you have seen some advertised at a lot cheaper then what u think they should be this could again be due to location.

Ideally as has been said it would have been better to have a list before breeding but what's done is done. What places have you been advertising and do you have your one website? I get all my enquiries threw my website that is linked to my champdogs account.

Hi

This is not my main breed and it's the first litter of this breed, I understand people having waiting lists I have that for my other toy breed the issue with this breed is you do not know what colours and patterns that willbe arriving (golden lab to golden lab you no what's going to be born) I have also noticed other breeders having the same issue not just me and notice the huge difference in price they originally want to what they want now!

Asia my first litter with this breed I don't no if this is normal

I didn't know what colours I was going to get either, could have been all black, or any number of yellow.  Most people didn't have a colour preference, they just wanted a pup from the stated breeding and raised by us.

Oh, I forgot to add, we are not even on the mainland and 5 of our puppies are going back to homes in the UK.  That will cost the new owners an extra £350 on the boat, plus one night's accommodation here - on top of the puppy fee - and still they are travelling the extra distance to have a pup from us, rather than going anywhere nearer.  So it's not just about distance and geography.

Maybe the bubble has burst on the popularity of this "not cheap to purchase" breed, bound to happen with some highly inflated prices of some adverts.

Tooolz I think you might be a right they are still very popular tho

You get peaks and troughs like this, which is why it is wise to advertise a prospective litter well ahead of time in order to have a waiting list (half of which can disappear), before they are born.

You simply have to wait for the right homes to come along and rear and socialise the pups according to their age.

At 6 weeks you still have another 4 - 6 weeks where pups are reasonably easy to look after as a litter, after which pups will need to be vaccinated and more intense individual socialisation and training started.

It is fine to advertise in all the places people are likely to look, as long as you screen potential owners well, bearing in mind some venues will be more likely to yield the wrong type of enquiry, the occasional really good home can result.

I'd always advise anyone contemplating breeding to have their own website, that is where I get most of my enquiries and where potential owners can see what kind of breeding ethos you have and your dogs.

You can set one up in virtually a few hours on both weebly and wix, get it onto search engines, and if you update regularly it will get picked up on searches.

Always point out in advertising what makes these pups more desirable than a poorly bred litter.  Emphasise health testing of parents, care taken in rearing and socialisation, so that your distinguished from the vaccinated vet ch3ecked and fleed type adverts.

If the pups are priced according to what is normal for the standard of pups, then stick to your price, dropping prices smacks of desperation, and I'd not sell to anyone who tried to barter, there is always the risk they may be bought and sold on to make a profit.

Just throwing my my 2 pennies worth - we do not have a waiting list so to speak. We breed primarily to add to our training program and so it is only the pups who do not have the right drives in 2 different sectors that will go to new homes. The remainder go to live with their training partner (although it is not necessary that that is the person they will be allocated to once training is complete however this has only happened twice).

I had interest in my litter before I bred and I made every interested party aware that there may not be any pups available and if there were, they would be allocated to the right home and not on a first come first serve basis. This is why I didn't take a deposit until the the visit before collection.

Of a litter of nine, only 3 were available in the end and I already knew in my mind who they were going to at 5 weeks old. One couple pulled out and I found a suitable home without too much of an issue. I too refuse to lower price as it does seem a little desperate and I would do as Brainless says and emphasise on all the things you are doing better than everyone else.

Th current litter is 3 weeks old and 3 characters are already standing out as having good working potential. There are 2 others who look promising which only really leaves 2 for sale. I have 3 families interested but no one has been approached yet. They know they have a chance and will be told in the next few weeks. If they are unsuccessful, I have already passed on the names of two other breeders who have newly whelped litters.

If however, there are more pups available than expected, the stud owner has names ready from her side.